Development of The Modern Fort Strong
In 1893, a huge construction project was begun, to build the massive concrete gun emplacements for the 10-inch guns of Fort Strong, one of the new Coast Artillery forts planned to defend Boston Harbor. The works for these larger batteries still exist today on the northern head of the island (see map at right). These northern emplacements were complete by 1899. Work continued on the 3-inch gun positions on the east and west sides of the parade ground (Batteries Taylor, Basinger, Smyth, and Stevens). These smaller calibre batteries were completed in 1906.
The fort, which had previously consisted of a battery of muzzle-loading cannon atop the northeastern head of the island, was now equipped with the latest in coast artillery, as part of nationwide improvements in coastal defense capabilities recommended by the Endicott Board.
Construction at the fort would continue through the 1920s, eventually creating a total of eight new batteries of 3-inch, 4.7-inch, and 10-inch guns along three sides of the island, extensive facilities for deploying and recovering the tethered mines which filled the nearby channels, and barracks space for over 1,000 members of the Coast Artillery who served at the fort.
Long Island Head was centrally situated in Boston Harbor, and the six 10-inch guns of Batteries Hitchcock and Ward (later reduced to five) had an effective range of roughly seven miles, letting them reach Revere on the north, Hingham on the south, and well out to sea in front of the harbor channels.
Prior to World War II, the Mining Casemate at the fort (see map) controlled all the submarine mines that protected the southern approaches to Boston Harbor. The rapid fire 3-inch gun batteries constructed on all three shores of the fort overlooked these minefields to destroy attacking ships that might become entangled in them.
By World War II, only the 3-inch guns of Batteries Basinger and Smyth, plus a battery of anti-aircraft cannon, remained in service, and with the end of the war, the fort was declared surplus. In the 1950s, two buildings supporting the Nike missile system (since decommissioned) were built on the island, and a target tracking radar was constructed at the northwest end of the North Head, in one of the former gun positions of Battery Drum.
Read more about this topic: Long Island (Massachusetts), History
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